Zimbabwe’s failure to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations finals seems not to be a matter of urgency for the Zifa Board as the issue will only be discussed at a scheduled board meeting next week.
Last week, Zifa president Cuthbert Dube seemed to indicate the urgency of the matter stating that a meeting will be held this Friday to look at how coach Norman Mapeza and his technical team can be assisted ahead of the 2013 Afcon qualifies.
Dube said Mapeza, who he has assured of a stay in the hot seat, will travel to Brazil for a coaching course while international friendlies will be lined up from next month to keep the Warriors active. But according to Zifa communications manager Nicky Dhlamini, the meeting will only take place on October 28.
The Warriors will only be back in action in June after the 2012 Afcon and Euro 2012 finals when they take part in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.
South Africa is already making plans to host a four nation tournament which will include Nigeria, Egypt and Cameroon who all also failed to qualify for the Afcon.
The targeted countries will battle it out with Bafana early next year in a tournament which would coincide with the 2012 Afcon finals.
Bafana, who failed to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, are set to play Ivory Coast on November 12 in the Nelson Mandela Challenge, but after that they face eight months without playing a match with their next official match penciled for June in a 2014 World Cup qualifier, like the Warriors.
The Football Association of Zambia (Faz) despite qualifying for the 2012 finals have already met and parted ways with coach Dario Bonetti, while Mozambique, who could be Zimbabwe’s opponents in the World Cup qualifiers have already appointed a new coach.
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In Nigeria, the football federation (NFF) says a decision on the future of coach Samson Siasia will be taken this week after they also failed to qualify. The NFF’s technical committee discussed the coach’s fate on Thursday last week and forwarded its recommendations to the Executive Committee, which meets this week.
